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Senate votes to ban Japan beef imports
If they won’t buy our beef, we won’t buy theirs, the Senate has decided.
On a 72-26 vote, the Senate adopted an amendment prohibiting importation of Japanese beef until Japan lifts its ban on U.S beef. Opponents of the amendment argued trade decisions about food safety should be based on science, not on restrictions in Japan or other countries. Japan was the biggest customer for American beef, importing more than $1.5 billion worth of beef in 2003. For more information, please go to drovers.com
The Senate, apparently, agrees with the American Meat Institute on this issue. AMI president J. Patrick Boyle said “it is both ironic and exceptionally disappointing to the beef industry that APHIS is expeditiously moving forward to reopen the American market to these products from Japan while the Japanese government refuses to apply the OIE guidelines with respect to American beef products.” Boyle also suggested it is intellectually inconsistent to permit Japanese beef into the U.S. while continuing to preclude the import of cattle 30 months of age and older (OTM cattle) and the beef products derived from those animals from other minimal risk regions such as Canada. — Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
Farming/ranching among most dangerous jobs
Farmers and ranchers are involved in the sixth most dangerous job in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency says 37.5 deaths occurred per every 100,000 people employed in 2004. Non-highway vehicle accidents accounted for 40 percent of occupational fatalities for farmers and ranchers last year. Follow this link for the full report.
Logging workers topped the list with 92.4 fatalities per 100,000 employed, followed by aircraft pilots and flight engineers, also with 92.4 fatalities. Fishers and related workers were third on the list at 86.4 fatalities, and structural iron and steel workers were fifth at 47 per 100,000 employed. The fatality rate for all occupations was 4.1 per 100,000 employed in 2004. The agency also reported the median pay for farmers and ranchers was $40,440 in 2004, significantly higher than that of the loggers at $29,730. — G.H.
News and Notes:
Martha Stewart lends her "good" name to PETA
Martha Stewart, the home-making guru and former fur-wearer, has completed a video on behalf of PETA, asking people not to wear fur. “I used to wear fur, but, like many others, I had a change of heart when I learned what actually happens to the animals. So much violence in the world seems beyond our control, but this is one cruelty we can stop by being informed consumers,” she says in the video, which can be seen at peta.org
Negotiations for Stewart’s appearance apparently began while she was serving time in prison for lying to federal agents investigating her sale of ImClone stock in December 2001. Stewart was convicted in March 2004 and served 5 months in prison and 5 months of home detention. Stewart maintains her innocence, but following the verdict last year, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said, “The story she told investigators after she made the stock trade simply didn't add up." And now we’re supposed to believe there are no real furs inside that mansion on her 18-acre estate in Connecticut? — G.H.
Senate approves ban on non-ambulatory cattle
On a voice-vote Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment barring non-ambulatory livestock from human consumption. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Akaka, D-Hawaii, adds language to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill to bar the use of federal funds for inspection or approval of non-ambulatory livestock for human consumption under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The House Agriculture Appropriations bill does not include any similar restriction, so the issue will need to be resolved in conference. For more information from the American Meat Institute, go to: meatami.com
Tighter rules on feed
FDA commissioner Lester Crawford said the government will change feed regulations to mirror rules proposed for Canada in order to further defend against the spread of BSE. Canada has proposed regulations banning at-risk tissues, including brains, spinal cords and other parts that can carry the disease, from feed for all animals, including chickens, pigs and pets. Currently, Canada's rules are similar to U.S. rules. For example, it is legal to add cattle protein to chicken feed, and feed that spills from cages and mixes with chicken waste on the ground is swept up for use in cattle feed. In addition to the risk of transmission from uneaten feed, scientists believe chicken waste presents a risk because the BSE protein can survive the chicken’s digestive system.
Senate votes to ban Japan beef imports
If they won’t buy our beef, we won’t buy theirs, the Senate has decided.
On a 72-26 vote, the Senate adopted an amendment prohibiting importation of Japanese beef until Japan lifts its ban on U.S beef. Opponents of the amendment argued trade decisions about food safety should be based on science, not on restrictions in Japan or other countries. Japan was the biggest customer for American beef, importing more than $1.5 billion worth of beef in 2003. For more information, please go to drovers.com
The Senate, apparently, agrees with the American Meat Institute on this issue. AMI president J. Patrick Boyle said “it is both ironic and exceptionally disappointing to the beef industry that APHIS is expeditiously moving forward to reopen the American market to these products from Japan while the Japanese government refuses to apply the OIE guidelines with respect to American beef products.” Boyle also suggested it is intellectually inconsistent to permit Japanese beef into the U.S. while continuing to preclude the import of cattle 30 months of age and older (OTM cattle) and the beef products derived from those animals from other minimal risk regions such as Canada. — Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
Farming/ranching among most dangerous jobs
Farmers and ranchers are involved in the sixth most dangerous job in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency says 37.5 deaths occurred per every 100,000 people employed in 2004. Non-highway vehicle accidents accounted for 40 percent of occupational fatalities for farmers and ranchers last year. Follow this link for the full report.
Logging workers topped the list with 92.4 fatalities per 100,000 employed, followed by aircraft pilots and flight engineers, also with 92.4 fatalities. Fishers and related workers were third on the list at 86.4 fatalities, and structural iron and steel workers were fifth at 47 per 100,000 employed. The fatality rate for all occupations was 4.1 per 100,000 employed in 2004. The agency also reported the median pay for farmers and ranchers was $40,440 in 2004, significantly higher than that of the loggers at $29,730. — G.H.
News and Notes:
Martha Stewart lends her "good" name to PETA
Martha Stewart, the home-making guru and former fur-wearer, has completed a video on behalf of PETA, asking people not to wear fur. “I used to wear fur, but, like many others, I had a change of heart when I learned what actually happens to the animals. So much violence in the world seems beyond our control, but this is one cruelty we can stop by being informed consumers,” she says in the video, which can be seen at peta.org
Negotiations for Stewart’s appearance apparently began while she was serving time in prison for lying to federal agents investigating her sale of ImClone stock in December 2001. Stewart was convicted in March 2004 and served 5 months in prison and 5 months of home detention. Stewart maintains her innocence, but following the verdict last year, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said, “The story she told investigators after she made the stock trade simply didn't add up." And now we’re supposed to believe there are no real furs inside that mansion on her 18-acre estate in Connecticut? — G.H.
Senate approves ban on non-ambulatory cattle
On a voice-vote Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment barring non-ambulatory livestock from human consumption. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Akaka, D-Hawaii, adds language to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill to bar the use of federal funds for inspection or approval of non-ambulatory livestock for human consumption under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The House Agriculture Appropriations bill does not include any similar restriction, so the issue will need to be resolved in conference. For more information from the American Meat Institute, go to: meatami.com
Tighter rules on feed
FDA commissioner Lester Crawford said the government will change feed regulations to mirror rules proposed for Canada in order to further defend against the spread of BSE. Canada has proposed regulations banning at-risk tissues, including brains, spinal cords and other parts that can carry the disease, from feed for all animals, including chickens, pigs and pets. Currently, Canada's rules are similar to U.S. rules. For example, it is legal to add cattle protein to chicken feed, and feed that spills from cages and mixes with chicken waste on the ground is swept up for use in cattle feed. In addition to the risk of transmission from uneaten feed, scientists believe chicken waste presents a risk because the BSE protein can survive the chicken’s digestive system.
